Bluz House Rocker vocalist Trish Anderson ready to liven up First Night Saratoga

I wince every time I watch old episodes of the 1950s TV show "Twilight Zone" and see some wrinkled actor playing an "old man" of 50. I think to myself, "I look and act younger than this guy, and I'll be 68 in February."

Now, if I do want to feel old by comparison, I think of Trish Anderson, who is "almost 60," a great-grandmother of two and entering her fifth decade as a singer.

Attractive and vital, Anderson will perform three rousing sets of rock, blues and soul with her band Bluz House Rockers Saturday -- New Year's Eve -- as part of First Night Saratoga.

She and her band are popular acts at local clubs; she recently appeared at the gambling resort Mohegan Sun in Connecticut and has performed in Las Vegas.

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"They told me in Vegas that, whatever I feel, I should just go around and tell people that 60 is not over. I feel like I'm beginning again," Anderson said. "I still feel that way and that I can actually be the poster person for this getting older stuff."

Earlier this month, she debuted in Las Vegas at the South Point Casino on the Dennis Bono Show simulcast to radio stations nationwide. She was the "new" singer on the weekly showcase of "The Great American Songbook" that has featured such stars as Doris Day, Bobby Rydell and Debbie Reynolds.

"Bono likes to introduce new artists, and I'm a new artist," giggled Trish, who looks more like a healthy Janis Joplin than a great-grandmother. "I was very well-received."

Jim Anderson is her husband, longtime promoter and currently the producer of the Proctors Theatre Golden Oldies concerts in Schenectady. He says his wife scored an 11 out of 10 in Vegas.

He pointed out that Trish sang two original compositions, including "Three Dollar Bill," a song that climbed to No. 2 in Denmark and was on the Bluz House Rockers' 2001 self-titled CD. The group was offered a tour of Denmark and had to turn it down because it interfered with their day jobs.

Trish can hold her own on numbers like "Born to Be Wild" and Delbert McClinton's "Shaky Ground." She and the Bluz House Rockers have opened for McClinton, Joan Jett, Pat Benatar and Little Feat.

And she's just as comfortable being a great-grandmother.

"I'm so glad there are still babies in our family," she said. "The fact that I'm their great-grandmother? I don't know. I don't think about that a lot. They just call me grandma. I've been called gram for many years. It just all sort of fits.

"When I get up there, and I get up on stage, I wear the stage costumes and jump around for three hours. It's wonderful. It's a release. I love it. I love entertaining people."

As far as "beginning again," Anderson said she has a bunch of new songs she wants to record. She said they're about coping in today's world.

"(They're) just letting people know that there's always hope. All my new songs are positive," she said. "You can write some blues songs that are positive. You know that! Just praising the creator here, too, that's gonna be part of it. I'm just happy that I was born and had this amazing life."

The Bluz House Rockers will perform new songs and old songs Saturday night, with the first set dedicated to the 50th anniversary of Motown.

TICKETS: First Night Saratoga button costs $15 and can be purchased at The Arts Center, Stewart's Shops, Adirondack Trust Branches, Price Choppers across the region, the Saratoga Hilton Gift Shop and at the Saratoga Springs YMCA